


At Least This Life

by EspirituDelMar



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fix-It, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2020-01-31 22:05:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18600304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EspirituDelMar/pseuds/EspirituDelMar
Summary: Just a short story to fix a little detail from the ending of Avengers: Endgame.ENDGAME SPOILERS!! DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE!!





	At Least This Life

**Author's Note:**

> I've literally finished watching Endgame less than an hour ago, and while it was epic, TONY'S DEATH WAS NOT OKAY! Seriously, the guy didn't get a rest in years, and now you give him five years of more-or-less bliss and then TKE IT from him by giving him a hero's death? I'm NOT OKAY WITH THAT!!  
> So I'm fixing it.

It was like waking from a bad dream.

Stephen Strange looked around him, feeling dazed both from the battle he’d been fighting a few minutes ago and from the surrealism of seeing the bad guys just… disappear. The dust flew in the wind, the sounds of the battle gradually quieted, and suddenly the nightmare had ended.

They’ve won.

“Tony!”

Stephen turned towards the voice, and a sudden sense of guilt invaded him. Which was illogical, because he’d foreseen this. He’d known that the only way to win was if this man sacrificed himself.

He’d known.

Still… There had been too much death lately. Even if the dusted people were back. And while experiencing all of the possible futures, he’d gotten to know the original Avengers very well and Tony? He was a good man. Very different from the image the media had of him.

His eyes caught a glance of glowing light and he looked at the fallen gauntlet. The most powerful weapon in the universe, the thing they’d all gave their all to protect… and here it was, forgotten in favor of the man who’d used it to save them all.

A particular gem caught his attention, and suddenly he had a thought.

It was stupid. He shouldn’t meddle with things anymore.

But seeing the crying eyes of Tony’s wife, of Tony’s sort-of son, of _everyone_ , and the fact that he had also foreseen the other deaths and couldn’t do anything to prevent them (and oh, how that _stung_ his doctor side) impulsed him to act. To save at least this life.

Grabbing the gauntlet, he used his magic to take the Time stone and place it on the Eye of Agamoto (he’d taken it from where it had fallen on Titan just as a reflex, because after years of it hanging from his neck he felt weird not wearing it). Running to where Tony laid (dead, he was dead, the spark on his eyes and the light on his chest were gone and oh how wrong he looked without them), he activated the gem and ignored the shouts to concentrate.

It was just like when he’d used it on the apple. Or the book. Turning back time to return them to their previous state didn’t mean the eaten apple had disappeared from his stomach, or that the pages disappeared from Kaecilius’ grasp. He’d concentrated the magic on the object, and only the object had gone back.

He had to be careful though. Turning his hand, he concentrated the magic on the man lying before him and turned his hand slightly, rewinding just the _right_ amount of time. He couldn’t make it so he was completely fine, but he could reverse his state to one where he could be saved if they rushed him to a hospital.

When he saw the light returning to his eyes and chest and he gasped for breath, Stephen couldn’t resist a smile.

“Do you still think of my magic as ‘parlor tricks’?” He asked, his eyes twinkling with both relief and humor. Tony’s eyes were still dazed, and he was surely confused by the situation, but he seemed to retain enough clarity to look at him, at the eye of Agamoto, and connect the dots.

“Maybe...” He wheezed. “Still… useful tricks… Merlin...” Stephen scoffed at him before creating a portal to the nearest hospital and helping the others carry him through it.

Yes, he would survive, there was no doubt about it. And the world would be a better place for it.


End file.
